


Bet On It

by Roserosierosy



Series: Dance With Me series [3]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ice Skating, M/M, One Shot, Short Story, all hail savior jacket, another lil kiss kiss, flufffff, mingi doesn't know he's gay, mingi is in awe, poor mingi, pray for mingi, second hand embarrassment is real, they bet on something, we really should thank jongho for this, yunho hot zamboni driver, yunho is confident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roserosierosy/pseuds/Roserosierosy
Summary: last short story based off of Dance With Me:mingi was seonghwa's best friend, and as said best friend it is part of his duty to support his career. many days out of the week mingi would go to the rink with jongho to watch the professional skater do what he does best. but as time went by, he found himself oddly watching the zamboni driver instead.
Relationships: Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi
Series: Dance With Me series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142252
Kudos: 58





	Bet On It

**Author's Note:**

> once again just very self indulgent and a very fluffy filler story to Dance With Me. this story can be read without reading the full story but some parts may not make sense or can be confusing (should just read the main story first... it'll hit different ;) ). but other than that, enjoy.

for as long as he could remember, mingi had known seonghwa since he was born. their mothers had been longtime best friends and when seonghwa's mother got pregnant with him, it seemed to inspire mingi's mother to have him as well, just a year later. naturally, the two became best friends as well, seonghwa being the extremely introverted one and mingi being ... well, mingi.

it was in early middle school that seonghwa had picked up ice skating and mingi decided that basketball was his thing. if he was being honest, he never expected seonghwa to be where he was now with skating- seonghwa was not a good athlete at all, barely being at mingi's current level then. the younger always had been the athletic one between the two of them, his height giving him an extreme advantage in the sport he loved. 

it wasn't until high school that seonghwa mysteriously started to excel in ice skating. he became super popular with the media as a new upcoming star to watch at the local/regional competitions. mingi, being the supportive friend that he was, attended as many of those competitions as he could. the high school's basketball team didn't seem do too well after the senior class left when mingi was a freshman so he decided it wasn't worth trying to play his junior year. 

now that mingi had more time on his hands, he really could focus on his studies and start deciding on what he wanted to study for university. as time went by, he saw seonghwa a lot less. the older man started to spend nearly all his free time in the ice rink to practice until dawn, attending his later classes with eye bags so dark that it made him look incredibly ill. mingi had been very worried, knowing that the sudden pressure put on seonghwa was really getting to him. while mingi hadn't figured out that he was a perfectionist, he wouldn't have known how to console him at all.

no, he learned that much later on in his career. luckily, the older man was able to teaches practices to a very special and hot-headed prodigy skater that they all loved.

after seonghwa graduated high school and mingi was finishing up his senior year, however, he found himself feeling lonely. to remedy this, mingi got out of class to drive over to the rink where seonghwa was already practicing at nearly every day. hewould sit himself in the same spot on the bleachers to watch him go at his routines with ease. if mingi were to admit it, he was jealous of seonghwa for the longest time. he was downright handsome and so athletically skilled, seeming to already know his purpose in life. while he was very proud of his friend, mingi felt that he was missing out on something he should be already experiencing. it was after seonghwa had met hongjoong that mingi also met jongho, hongjoong's friend from university. 

jongho was very hard to read when mingi first met him. he thought that the youngest of them all was so reserved, quiet and oddly mature for his age that mingi wasn't really sure how to even act around him. but he soon came to learn, after a few weeks of getting to know him, that jongho just had an overly dry sense of humor and would pick harmless fights with anyone he encountered. the two of them became extremely close friends, finding out that they both happened to be majoring in human resources and were very passionate about their work. they'd talk and complain about how their favorite sports team were losing over beers during the weekends they were free. mingi would drive them every where and jongho would sit in the passenger seat with the gps, choosing to wait until the last minute to tell mingi about an upcoming turn. 

when hongjoong and seonghwa (finally) started talking, jongho and mingi had exchanged some very sneaky glances. they knew before the two of them did that they had feelings for each other. it was so obvious: the way that they looked at each other, eyes shimmering with admiration whenever one of them would even utter a word to the other, was an embodiment of the lover's gaze. they were right in the end- now, four years later, seonghwa and hongjoong became fiancés. 

mingi met san in the weirdest way. seonghwa usually never let anyone hang on him, never being a strong fan of skin-ship, so when mingi marched into the rink and saw another man tugging on the older man's sleeve, he was a little taken aback. san turned out to be a funny guy the more he got to know him but he never hit it off with him as well as he did with jongho. san was like a younger version of seonghwa who also worked himself to death so mingi didn't really see him much. regardless, they were good friends and could easily make jokes to bully seonghwa together. they were all lighthearted in nature, that's how they all loved each other.

yet everything became extremely peculiar when mingi met yunho. mingi had never heard of a zamboni, assuming that it was some sort of innuendo between seongwha and hongjoong. this thought was implanted in him when he walked past their whispering,"melt the ice" and "lovely sounds" being among the words mixed in with "zamboni". he eventually learned about the machine when he had first walked past yunho. the older man had caught mingi's peripheral vision for a brief moment, delaying his front vision and making him kiss the unforgiving metal of a pole. when he nearly knocked himself out, yunho had rushed over to him and asked if he was okay.

but mingi was too embarrassed about the whole situation that he had just gotten up in a fit and ran to go cry to seonghwa about it. 

"he's the zamboni driver," seonhwa had answered when he put a small bandaid over the harmless cut on mingi's forehead.

"driver?" 

"yeah the big ass machine that fixes the ice."

"oh..."

so over the next few weeks, mingi found himself absolutely mesmerized by the zamboni. not the driver, just to be clear, the zamboni. yunho would drive it out every few hours or so, kicking seonghwa or san off the rink to fix the cracks and make it easier to skate on the ice.

"why are you gwaking at yunho?" jongho had questioned one day when mingi nearly had his nose pressed up against glass to watch the zamboni glide over the ice.

"i'm not looking at him, looking at the machine."

"bullshit. i know you've been staring at him the entire week."

"i don't even like men," was the only thing that mingi could even think of responding, yet his eyes still followed the trip around the ice.

"have you ever dated a girl?"

"no?"

"thought so."

but it got then got stranger. whenever yunho would see mingi, he'd always smile and wave, saying a few "hello's" here and there. it was only when mingi was around someone that yunho had created a habit of winking at him. for whatever reason, mingi's brain would decide to take a vacation to dreamland for the rest of that day. 

it surprised him that yunho was nearly, if not, the same height as he was. mingi was far too tall for his own well being and never knew anyone who went past his nose in height. but yunho was tall like him and mingi kept telling himself that the reason he got little butterflies in his stomach was because he was overjoyed that he could look the other in the eyes without bending his neck down.

"what color are his eyes?" jongho refuted when mingi had first made that argument.

"i ... um... what?" mingi's mind had suddenly blanked and he wasn't able picture what yunho's eye color was at the moment.

"exactly."

when all of them had gone out for dinner the night after hearing of san's brutal fight with his skating partner, wooyoung, mingi had his first real conversation with yunho. mingi will never in his life forgive jongho for making yunho sit next to him. he was very sure that he was making a fool out of himself that entire night but yunho seemed to be very unbothered by it, only smiling softly and laughing fully when one of them made a funny joke.

he remembered when yunho had asked for his number that night- one of the memories that mingi made his mission to forget. he had locked himself out of his phone when he failed his password too many times because his fingers decided to lose feeling in them and he just suddenly didn't know how to count. but after that night things got better: they started to text some and see each other more often in the skating rink. 

yunho would pop up and sit down next to mingi whenever he would watch san and wooyoung practice on the rink. mingi was definitely hyperaware that yunho was sitting very close to him, his thigh nearly touching his own. he didn't mind at all, in honesty, because the man smelled too good. it was just not fair, how yunho would talk so calmly to him and always have that laid back look on his face. mingi would just stare longingly at it and he wouldn't even know until yunho would remind him to blink.

"wooyoung likes san," yunho had commented one night after the two younger skaters had packed up and left. the older between the two of them had got up to do his last round before they closing up for the night. 

"what? no way... have you seen the way those two fight?" mingi got up to follow him, forgetting his jacket that had fallen onto the ground as he stood up.

"misplaced desire," the other nonchalantly replied back, and the way yunho had said the word 'desire', making direct eye contact with him, made mingi almost miss the first step all together to go down to the rink.

"i doubt it, all they do is scream at each other. i'm scared i'm going to come in one day and see one tearing the other apart."

"wanna make a bet?" there was a slight glimmer in yunho's chocolate-colored eye as he turned back to look at mingi.

"what's at stake here?" mingi asked as he carefully watched his feet walk down each step until he made it to the bottom floor and followed yunho around back to where the zamboni was parked. he was now intrigued by this sudden offer.

"hmm let me think, needs to be good." 

the zamboni was giant and mingi found a fascination with the paint job. he ran his fingers over the letters, drawing little patterns in the light dust that had accumulated on the side. he didn't see the way yunho took a mental video of him as he did that, too lost in his own world. 

"if you win, i'll let you drive it."

mingi jolted up in surprise, his jaw completely open and glasses falling down the bridge of his nose as he did. 

"i don't even need to hear the other option. you're on--"

yunho laughed again, and mingi suddenly just wanted to hear him laugh again... in a completely heterosexual way. obviously. 

yunho took a few steps towards him and with each step, mingi felt his heart beat pound just a little harder in his chest. he finally stopped when he was at least an index finger's distance from mingi's nose. "if i win, i get to ask to take one thing from you."

"what's that?"

yunho just smiled casually and brought his hand up to gently push mingi's glasses back up where they belonged on his nose. "you'll see when i win."

the results of their bet came way faster than mingi had ever expected, almost forgetting to take the time to mentally prepare himself for it. when san and wooyoung performed for the first time in an actual competition, mingi got a thick feeling in his throat. that feeling only deepened when seonghwa broke down crying and mumbling something about "they aren't acting... that's real." mingi wasn't completely sure what that really meant- he could never understand anything related to skating besides the fact that the blades might slice his fingers if he fell on the ice around other people. but as san and wooyoung progressed in their performance, he just had that sinking feeling that yunho was probably right about the two young skaters. 

and to make matters even worse in the emotional department, mingi was wearing yunho's sweatshirt because he couldn't find his jacket. he lost it oh-so conveniently and couldn't remember where he put it. the sweatshirt smelt purely of yunho, the certain cologne mixing in and making mingi's head float. 

when wooyoung had pulled san in for a kiss after they had finished their routine, the entire arena had nearly erupted with screams and hollering, but mingi just sat there with his mouth hanging open once more. his brain was overwhelmed with thoughts like, 'holy shit, they're kissing in the center of the arena like no one was watching', but slowly his thoughts twirled back to more pressing matters related to him. he glanced over to the side where yunho was seated down a few seats next to yeosang, and he was met with those damn eyes winking back at him that had mingi suck in a breath and choking on his own saliva from the impact of it. 

later that night when they all got back from celebrating san and wooyoung's inevitable first place partner win, mingi decided to go look for his jacket in the rink so he could give yunho's very comfy sweatshirt back. he probably spent twenty minutes looking for it alone in the dark before he felt a large hand on his shoulder. mingi will swear to this day that he didn't scream and jerk around. 

yunho jumped back a little, startled at mingi's reaction but then chuckling a little as mingi tried his absolute best to pretend that all didn't happen. he tried everything in his power to push the blush off of his face as he ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to distract himself from the event. 

"looking for your jacket?" yunho implored, a hint of something sinister behind his smile.

mingi just nodded dumbly, determining that it probably was in his best interest to just be quiet for the time being.

yunho offered mingi his hand as he pulled the other up from the ground, and maybe he continued to hold onto mingi's hand a little longer than what was called for. and maybe mingi blushed a little harder when he realized that yunho's hands were definitely bigger and warmer than his own. 

when yunho finally let go of his hand, a phantom of a squeeze passing between them, he turned around to lead mingi somewhere. mingi felt himself nearly reaching forward to chase after yunho's hand subconsciously, quickly slapping his own hand and the thought of hand-holding away. yunho lead them to the same back room where the zamboni was stored, turning on just one light to sufficiently light the room before walking over to the zamboni. to mingi's utter and sudden delight, it conveniently had mingi's jacket laying on the seat. 

"how do you have that?" mingi asked as he walking over with a big smile, happy to be reunited with the piece of fabric. 

"i found it when i was cleaning up yesterday, decided to keep it safe until you came back looking for it."

"well thank you, both for finding my jacket and letting me use your sweatshirt."

"it's all good. i like to do nice things for you," yunho insisted slowly, his eyebrow raising just slightly as he gauged mingi's reaction.

"oh i.. that's..." mingi really started to stumble through his words as he looked absolutely anywhere else in the room besides the man standing before him. "thank you again."

for a moment, the air was thick with an unknown tension. it was hard for mingi to breath and his body felt ridiculously hot. he wasn't sure if he should ask for yunho to give him his jacket or if he should step closer and take it from him himself. yunho was leaning up against the zamboni with mingi's jacket in hand, the nonchalant smile on his lips making mingi feel small. the third option of just leaving so he could breathe properly again now arose in his mind; forget the jacket altogether, he could get a new one.

"if you want it, come and get it."

mingi had to clear his throat with strength: yunho didn't say anything bad at all but why was his heart deciding to pound ten times harder? maybe it was by the grace of god that mingi entertained the idea of confidence, because he carefully made his way over to the older and made sure to stand just a little taller than he normally would.

in any other aspect of life, mingi was confident enough to make it through. but whenever yunho had entered the general area, he forgot how to act coherently. all semblance of confidence left him immediately when yunho would walked past him. it was mildly frustrating, to say in the least, and mingi had his fair share of lectures in front of the mirror, telling himself he was being a baby.

so mingi would consider today a huge success because he had willed himself to stand in front of yunho, less than a foot of space between them. he would go home to celebrate by himself with a whole pizza and bottle of wine as he had live long enough to get there but the longer he was in yunho's presence, the more he felt his life source leave him.

"closer," yunho tempted softly, before hooking his arm around mingi's waist and pulling him even closer than ever before. if it wasn't for mingi's jacket, he might've been flush against yunho's chest but at least he was still breathing. who was the real savior today? mingi's jacket.

"i believe i won," yunho whispered smoothly, mingi shivering as he could literally feel the other's breath on his cheek . "so that means you have to give me something."

mingi was staring again and his heart was lodged in his throat, knees locked tightly in place. he couldn't imagine what the older was going to ask, but it had his mind whirling around regardless. 

"what did you want?" mingi finally found his voice and he was relieved that it didn't shake as badly as his body did.

"well i was thinking," yunho now reached up with his other hand to place his thumb on mingi's bottom lip, his mouth opening just a little by instinct. his mind instantly blanked and all he could think about was soft yunho's thumb was on his bottom lip and good god, he was already dizzy. 

"you can say no, but..." that had mingi's heart reeling even more and he could swear on all things holy that yunho was slowly leaning closer to him. "you should give me a kiss."

it was all thanks to yunho's arm that was wrapped around his waist that mingi did not topple to the floor. during all his inner turmoil, mingi's hands had found themselves snug up against yunho's chest. however, now was not the time to find out that the older was quite fit. 

yunho was smiling at him softly and he clearly was enjoying mingi losing his mind. he slowly leaned his head forward until his nose was nearly pressing against mingi's, eyes even more interested in mingi's attempts to breathe and keep his eyes focused.

"i need an answer mingi."

mingi nodded gently, his head movement rather robotic, but the little "yes" that squeaked out of his mouth was painfully breathy and it had yunho chuckling lowly in his throat. he didn't move at all, teasing the younger and ghosting his lips over mingi's, gently rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip before moving it down to grab onto his chin to tilt his head upwards.

"you sure?" yunho inquired one more time.

"i want to kiss you," mingi declared, his words more air than anything else. it was all he could muster as his eyes were already closing shut, not being able to handle the stare of the other's eyes on him any longer.

mingi felt a hot breath against his cheek before being met with a full set of lips pressing against his. the kiss was in such a delicate manner that he couldn't help letting out a soft breath. his arms coming up to wrap around yunho's neck and pull him fully against him, chests pressing against his and the savior jacket was long forgotten. yunho lip's were a little wetter than mingi had expected but it was no sort of turn off- it just added the to the sensuality of the situation. yunho pressed further and further into mingi, towering over the younger, gently moving his lips slowly against his gently to make sure he didn't scare mingi off. 

his head was empty, no thoughts were able to process because all he could think about was how good of a kisser yunho was and how his heart skipped a few beats every time mingi felt a warm tongue press against his bottom lip. yunho's hands were pressing against the small of his back, his thumbs wrapping around his waist to pull him even closer. 

so much for just a little kiss, not that mingi minded at all. he realized that there was no way he couldn't deny that he had been staring at yunho this entire time instead of the zamboni any longer.

at least yunho did end up letting mingi drive the zamboni afterwards, even with swollen lips and tousled hair. he was still wearing yunho's sweatshirt, once again forgetting that his own jacket fell on the floor.

but if things continued the way mingi thought they would, be wouldn't be needing his own jacket for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> end of the little series that i had going... let me know if there could be potentially any other stories you'd like to hear <3.


End file.
